Chasing a Dream and a Cup
by eighteen inches
Summary: A collection of unrelated stories written for the Quidditch League Competition. iv: Everyone has their demons and she wasn't going to let hers control her anymore.
1. Good Times Gone Bad

Good Times Gone Bad

The night sky was slowly turning a little pinkish, purplish tint as the sun was starting to set. Lily Evans was sitting in the corner of the Head Girl and Boy's common room, staring out of the window. She couldn't believe that in just a couple of days, her Hogwarts life would be over and she'd be out in the real world. She never believed that the seven years would have flown by as quickly as they had.

She sighed before standing and making her way over to the portrait hole to take a walk around the castle. When she reached the sixth floor landing, her feet started walking in the familiar pattern that she took on numerous occasions. The Astronomy Tower has always been Lily's place to go whenever she needed time to herself or a quite place to think.

She didn't know if it was the view of the grounds or the beautiful night sky that drew her towards the tower, but she had always gone there.

Eventually she found herself climbing up the spiral staircase that led to the tower. She could hear movement coming from the other side of the door as she neared it and couldn't help but wonder who could be there at this time of night.

She pushed the door open and saw someone who she really didn't want to see again. Someone who she thought was her friend, but of course she couldn't have been more wrong. Someone who could call another person such a horrid word wasn't a friend of hers.

"What are you doing here?" She heard the words but couldn't believe that she had actually spoken them. "Shouldn't you be in your dormitory?"

He turned around to face her. "I could ask you the same question. What are you doing, stalking me? I thought that was below you. I guess Potter's arrogant ways have rubbed off on you."

Lily felt her eyes narrow. "You have no right to talk about James after what you've done."

"What _I've_ done?" he retorted. "What about everything _he's_ done?"

Lily took a breath. "Sure James has annoyed me constantly since first year and has gotten loads of detentions, and pranked people; but he's _never_ called me a Mudblood. You have and I don't think I could ever forgive you for that."

"I don't want your forgiveness," he growled.

"You've changed so much, Severus," Lily said, disappointment high in her voice. "And not in a good way."

"I really don't care about your opinion of me. I don't think you're a good judge of character."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. The tension between them rising at every minute. "I guess I'm not, seeing as I believed that we could be friends," she scoffed. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Well, you've agreed to go out with _him_, so that should tell you a lot."

There's a moment of silence between them. One in which Lily realizes that she may truly hate him. She does hate him. She's hated him ever since that dreadful day. She had only wished to help him and he dared call her that dreadful word.

"I hate you," the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

In the light from the still setting sun, Lily can see the smirk that appeared on his lips. "I know that and I don't care. It doesn't change anything."

A few moments of silence past between them and in that moment, Lily was trying to calm herself down. Her short temper was trying to get the better of her and she didn't want it to win.

"You're going to join _them_, aren't you?" she asked, after a while.

He just shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not; but I don't see why it would matter to you. As you said, you hate me."

She was silent for a moment as she wondered how their relationship had come to still. She remembered the simpler days when Severus was one of the few friends she had and was one of the first friends she had upon starting Hogwarts. Now, she could hardly stand to be in the same room as him.

"Just forget everything," Lily said as she started for the door. "Forget what a pitiful friendship we had and forget me."

Lily quickly turned on her heel and walked out of the Astronomy Tower, wondering how things could go from good to bad so easily.

_People change, Lily. You of all people should know that. _

"Ever since that day," Lily said aloud to herself.

* * *

_It was a nice day and many Hogwarts students were enjoying the day outside. Lily Evans sat near the black lake with her friend Marlene._

"_Has James stopped asking you out every chance he gets?" Marlene asked. _

_Lily shrugged. "He has for now, but I highly doubt that he's going to stop. He's probably just waiting before he asks again, as if I'll say yes because he's left be alone for a while."_

"_I think he really likes you," Marlene said. _

"_He's James Potter," Lily reminded her. _

"_That doesn't mean that he doesn't have real feelings for you," Marlene retorted. _

_Lily looked out at the Black Lake. "I'm sure once he gets tired of me always turning him done, he'll be on the hunt for another girl to bug."_

"_I don't know about that, Lily," Marlene told her. "He's been trying for about a year and a half now. Usually he would have moved on by now."_

"_Potter loves a challenge and he's also thick headed; he'll get the hint one of these days," Lily stated. _

"_I don't know about that, Lily," Marlene replied. _

_Lily started to say something, but loud voices caused her to turn her head. She rolled her eyes at what she saw. James, his three lackeys were walking towards the group of trees. _

_Lily turned her head to see what they were walking towards and saw Severus Snape sitting under a tree, looking a textbook._

"_You don't think James is going to do what I think he's going to do?" Marlene asked as she looked towards the group of Gryffindors. _

_But Lily wasn't listening. She was too busy worrying about what James was going to. _

"_Hey Snivellus!" James called. _

_Severus looked up from his book, before he closed it and placed it in his bag. He stood up and started leave. _

"_Alright Snivellus," James said loudly. _

_Severus dropped his bag and quickly reached into his robes and his wand was halfway in the air when James shouted, "Expelliarmus!"_

_His wand flew into the air and landed with a small thud in the grass behind him. _

"_Impeditmenta!" James said, pointing his wand at Severus, who was knocked of his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand. _

_Other students had begun to surround James and Severus, forming a circle of bodies that Lily couldn't see through. _

_This isn't going to end well, Lily thought as she stood up. She quickly made her way towards the group of students. She had to shove her way through the students, but had finally managed to get to the middle of the circle. What she saw made her temper flare. _

"_Leave him ALONE!" Lily shouted_

_James and Sirius spun around._

"_All right, Evans?" James said._

"_Leave him alone," Lily repeated, looking at James with every sign of dislike. "What's he ever done to you?"_

"_Well," James said. "It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean."_

_Many of the students who surrounded them laughed along with James and Sirius; but Lily didn't. _

"_You think you're funny," Lily said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."_

"_I will if you go out with me, Evans," James replied. "Go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."_

"_I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," Lily said. "Now leave him alone."_

_James looked from Lily to Severus, who was still in the air, and sighed deeply before he muttered the counter-curse. _

"_Happy now?" James said, as Severus struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"_

"_I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Severus shouted back, as he picked up his bag and his wand, stuffing it into his robes. _

_Lily blinked, as she turned to look at Severus. She just stood there, staring at him, lost in her thoughts. She hadn't even heard what James had yelled._

* * *

Lily shook her head, trying to force the memory out. When she finally got her bearings back, she realized that someone she'd ended up in the Ancient Runes hallway. She turned around and slowly started to make her way back to the heads common room.

_Well, that just proves just how much people can change,_ Lily thought. Severus had turned from one of her friends to someone she couldn't stand and James had turned from someone she couldn't stand to her boyfriend.

When she reached the portrait, she said the password and walked inside. She made her way up the stairwell and towards her four-poster bed.

_People change and so do friendships,_ she thought before she finally fell asleep.

* * *

AN: This is written for round one of the Quidditch League. This is also the first time I've written Lily and Snape, so if it's terrible, I can understand that. Please leave a review and tell me what you think? :)

Team: Harpies

Position: Chaser 3

Prompts: purple, leaving, "Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia."

Word count: 1,546

Disclaimer: While most of the writing from the flashback came directly from the book, I don't own anything Harry Potter related and I'm only writing this for my enjoyment.


	2. Wasn't Meant to Be

Wasn't Meant to Be

The blond sat at the bar, drowning his sorrows in firewhiskey. He normally wasn't one to drink something that strong, but right now, he desperately needed it. He'd do anything to get that image out of his mind.

He sighed as he took another long swig of the drink in front of him.

_How could she do that to me? How could she do that to us?_ he thought, sadly.

He knew she had a reputation. (But he didn't want to believe it.) He knew she was trouble. (But he thought he could handle her.) He knew he should stay away, but he just couldn't help himself. She was just too damn irrespirable. The way her long hair blew in the wind, the way her smile lit up her eyes, the way she wore her clothes a bit too tight and her skirts a bit too short.

There was just _something_ about her that he couldn't pull himself away from. She gave him a better buzz than any alcohol ever could. She was one of the greatest things to ever happen to him, but every good thing has to come to an end sometime.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

_I guess, it just wasn't meant to be._

He cursed himself for not believing everything he heard; for not listening to his gut. Now he was in the Hogs Head, in the middle of the day, without a girlfriend.

* * *

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you," a familiar voice said, interrupting his conversation. _

_He glanced away from his friend and turned his head towards the sound of the voice. Standing in front of the Ravenclaw table was none other than Rose Weasley. _

_He raised an eyebrow. "What wouldn't you do if you were me?"_

_Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. Or do you not remember talking about asking Lily out?"_

_He glanced behind her, at the Slytherin table and saw the familiar redhead, laughing with her friends before turning his attention to his friend. "I'll see you later."_

_He stood up, grabbed his bag and walked out of the Great Hall, Rose behind him. _

_He finally stopped walking and turned around when he reached the corner of the Entrance Courtyard. He loosely crossed his arms over his chest. "So what if I was?"_

"_Lily is bad news, Ly," Rose told him, firmly. "She's nothing but trouble."_

_He held back a scoff. "Are you really sure about that? Or is this just some ploy to get me not to ask Lily out because of your old crush on me?"_

_Rose's eyes widen and her mouth dropped open but she didn't say anything. _

_Lysander grinned. "You didn't think I knew about that crush, did you? But I did."_

"_That's not the point!" Rose cried. "Besides, like you said, it was an old crush. I'm over it."_

"_Are you sure about that, Rose? Because the way you're acting says otherwise. You hate Lily and you hate that fact that I may actually like her. I think you're just jealous because you can't have who you want," he said, simply. "Lily may be the Slytherin, but I think you may be more cunning and sly than she is."_

_Rose shook her head. "I can't believe you honestly think I'm doing this out of spite!"_

"_What else could it be?" he retorted. _

"_Maybe it's the fact that you're one of my best friends and I don't want to see you get used and thrown away," Rose shouted. "Because that's what Lily does, she uses guys and then throws them away when she's ready to move on."_

"_I call bullshit on that, Rose," Lysander replied. "I'm not one to believe any of the rumors floating around Hogwarts and unlike you; I can see the good in people. It's one of the things I've learned from my mother… Now if you excuse me, I have a cousin of yours to ask to Hogsmeade."_

_He pushed past Rose as he walked away and didn't look back._

* * *

"Ly, is that you?" a voice asked, pulling him from his thoughts. "I thought I may find you here."

He clenched and unclenched his fist and mentally groaned when he recognized the voice. _What the hell was she doing here? _

_Because this is a public bar in Hogsmeade and she is seventeen, so technically she's old enough to be in here._

"I know I'm not the person you want to see right now," she went on. "But we need to talk…about what you think you saw."

Lysander downed the rest of his glass of firewhiskey and asked for a refill. He glanced over at the girl sitting next to him. The girl he thought he knew, but didn't really know at all. The girl he thought he loved and the one who shattered his heart.

He raised his glass to his lips. "I'll make this easy for you. Don't bother trying to explain anything to me, Lily, because I don't give a shit."

"Please hear me out," Lily pleaded. "It wasn't what you—"

"I can honestly say that I do not care," Lysander said, cutting her off. "I know what I saw. I know you're less than perfect and everyone has their faults, but I can't believe you would do that to me."

"It was nothing, I swear," Lily tried again. "Please give a chance to make it up to you."

Lysander scoffed. "So are you trying to tell me that you weren't snogging Michael Zabini in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, of all places? You went there for a date with him, didn't you?" He took another swig of firewhiskey. "And you can try as much as you'd like, but we will never get back to who we were."

Lily opened her mouth to continue, but Lysander waved a hand to stop her. "I said don't bother. I came all this way to surprise you on your Hogsmeade visit, only to be crushed by finding my girlfriend in someone's arms."

"But he kissed me!" she cried.

"Usually if someone gets kissed by someone they don't want to be kissed by, they push them off. Not to mention, friends normally don't go to Madam Puddifoots'," Lysander stated. "You looked pretty content with kissing him back with just as much—"He stopped and took a deep breath. He couldn't force himself to finish the sentence.

After a moment of silence, he went on. "You know, I honestly thought you were different than your reputation. I never believed it for a second, just like I never believed Rose when she said I was making a big mistake. But now, I know that everything I've heard about you is the truth and I was a complete bloody idiot for thinking otherwise."

"You're not an idiot, Ly."

"Don't call me that," Lysander told her. He dropped enough money on the counter to pay for his drinks and stood up. He glanced down at her. "And by the way, how many guys have you used that on?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, standing up and turning to face him.

"How many guys have you tried to sweet talk into believing that you didn't cheat on them?" he asked, his voice rising. "How many nice guys have you fucked over to get what you want?"

He started for the door without even waiting for an answer. He pushed through the door and into the cold winter air. He wrapped his scarf around his neck as he started walking away from the small village. After a while, he heard footsteps behind him and knew that Lily had followed him.

"Just leave me alone, Lily." He stopped and turned around to face her. "It's over between us, so stop trying. Run along back to Michael and snog him in the middle of the Entrance Hall."

Lily stared at him, but didn't say anything.

"If you can't stay committed to a relationship, why can't you just stay single?" Lysander told her before turning on his heel and apparating away.

He appeared outside the flat he shared with his brother. He walked to the front door, unlocked it and walked inside. He pulled off his scarf and jacket and just dropped them on the floor, not bothering to hang them up.

"Alright there, Ly," Lorcan asked from his seat on the couch.

Lysander shook his head before walking to the kitchen and pulling out his stash of firewhiskey.

"That stuff is going to kill you one of these days," Lorcan joked.

Lysander took a swig of the firewhiskey straight from the bottle without glancing at his brother. He knew he was only trying to joke to cheer him up, but he didn't care. He wasn't in the mood for jokes right now. No amount of jokes could make him crack a smile at the moment.

But he sort of wished that the alcohol would kill him, because it would be better than feeling like shit. Anything would be better than having your life screwed over by the girl he thought loved him and who he loved more than anything.

* * *

AN: So this was written for round two of the Quidditch League. This was also written between one and two o'clock in the morning and started out as Scorpius/Rose but somehow turned into Lysander/Lily while Rose still makes an appearance. And I've never written something like this before, so leave a review and tell me what you think.

Team: Harpies

Position: Chaser 3

Song Lyrics: "drink the poison lightly cause there are deeper and darker things than you. I know, 'cause I've been there too." - I'm not the one, 3oh!3

Prompts: "I can honestly say that I do not care," less than perfect and who we were. *

Word count: 1,534

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. No copyright infringement is intended.


	3. Unexpected

Unexpected

Scorpius Malfoy stood off to the side with of the garden a cup of punch in his hand. He knew that he shouldn't have come, not after what happened between him and Rose. He was shocked that he hadn't been the cause of an argument yet, especially considering the fact that Rose's father who was very protective over her, didn't much like Scorpius and blamed _him_ for everything.

A situation that wasn't even his fault in the first place; he did everything possible to keep Rose happy – even at the expense of his happiness. But it was never enough. Nothing he did even mattered to her and that hurt him the most.

He honestly thought Rose was different and wasn't like other girls. Scorpius was shocked that she treated him like that after all that he'd done for her. He'd given her everything she ever wanted and needed.

_But it didn't matter. It never matter. _

He shook his head.

_Stop thinking about it,_ Scorpius told himself, firmly. _It wasn't your fault. _

The nagging voice in his brain spoke up again. _Or was it?_

Even though he knew that it wasn't his fault, he couldn't stop blaming himself and thinking that he could have done something different, something that would have kept them together.

"Why are you being a loner and standing alone by yourself?" a familiar female voice said, pulling him out of his thoughts. Scorpius didn't care enough to look and see who it was.

"Does it look like anyone would want to talk to me?" he retorted, taking a sip of his drink and glancing around the garden, as if to prove his point.

"Well, you showed up," she stated. "You obviously came for a reason….and who cares what everyone else thinks."

Scorpius turned to look at her and wished he hadn't. Standing before him was none other than Dominique Weasley, who was wearing her lavender Weasley sweater with a gold D stitched on the front. He slowly felt a strange feeling in his stomach that couldn't be shoved away.

_Don't tell me your old crush is coming back,_ he thought as he stared at her. _No, it can't be. That crush didn't mean anything and she's not in my league. _

"I'm still technically a family friend," Scorpius told her. "Even if a certain redheaded Weasley hates me. I'm completely sure that her father hates me too."

Dominique crossed her arms and stared at him. "Well, Uncle Ron thinks that his perfect little daughter can do no wrong; which is a load of bullshit."

Scorpius glanced over to where Ron stood talking with Bill and Charlie. "Forget about it," he said simply, thinking another sip of his drink.

"You're the one who brought it up," Dominique reminded him. After a moment of silence, she went on. "Do you still love her?"

Scorpius stared at her blankly. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe not."

"You don't sound too sure about that," Dominique said, tilting her head at him inquisitively. "So I'm guessing that you never did in the first place, but that's odd seeing as you were dating for three years."

Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know…I thought I did. I even thought that we would last forever, but I guess not; she obviously didn't feel the same way about us."

"Well, not everyone ends up with their Hogwarts boyfriend or girlfriend," Dominique said, a hint of sadness and anger mixed with venom in her voice.

Scorpius looked at her. "I guess we both know how the other feels."

Dominique leaned against a tree trunk. "We both know what it's like to be cheated on and hurt by someone you thought you knew." She scoffed. "I thought family was always supposed to be there for you. I never thought my own bloody cousin would make a move on my _boyfriend._"

Scorpius slowly turned his head and wished he hadn't. On the other side of the garden, Rose and Lorcan were sitting on a blanket underneath a tree, talking and giggling like schoolchildren.

"You know, it's sickening seeing your ex flirting with your cousin," Dominique said.

Scorpius looked at Dominique with a puzzled look. "How do you stand seeing them together?"

"I can't," she told him, truthfully. "Every time I see them together, I get this urge to hex the hell out of both of them. But Victoire, Molly and sometimes Roxanne hold me back. Vic even takes my wand away from me sometimes." She paused and looked at him for a moment. "How can you stand _that._"

Scorpius shrugged.

Dominique reached over, took Scorpius' cup and downed the rest of the liquid inside. "Figures," she said. "James must have spiked the punch."

"Maybe that was why I could handle seeing all the public displays of affections between Rose and Lorcan."

"There is a secret stash of fire whiskey in the old tree house," Dominique stated, ignoring Scorpius. She looked towards the edge of the garden where the largest tree stood.

"Why is it in the tree house?" Scorpius asked, puzzled.

Dominique shrugged. "It hasn't been used since Lily was seven or eight. And none of the adults go over there, so James and Fred thought it would be the perfect hiding spot. Honestly, it's pretty handy that it's there; I don't think I could go through family gatherings with Rose and Lorcan without causing a scene."

"I always thought you were one of the Weasleys who loved causing scenes?" Scorpius said to her, looking confused yet again.

Dominique gave a small smile. "In Hogwarts, I didn't care. But during a family gathering, I'd rather not have to face the wrath of Grandmum Molly – she's scary when she's angry. Besides, I don't want to ruin something that she worked so hard on." She looked over to where her mother was talking with Audrey and Angelina. "Not to mention, I would _never_ hear the end of it from my mother."

Scorpius fell into step beside Dominique as she slowly made her way over towards the treehouse. "Sounds like we both have one strict parent."

"For two people who couldn't be more different, we seem to have some things in common," Dominique stated before they fell into a comfortable silence.

As they walked, Scorpius couldn't help but notice Rose glance at the pair with a look on her face that resembled a mix of sadness and confusion.

_Why does she care who I decide to spend my time with?_ Scorpius thought. _She didn't seem to care when she decided to cheat on me with her own cousin's boyfriend._

A few moments later, they were sitting in the tree house with a few bottles of fire whiskey sitting between them, talking. Scorpius actually felt comfortable and content with talking with Dominique because she knew how he felt and knew that he didn't really want to talk about their situations.

Scorpius was surprised to learn that they have more in common than just their one strict parent, their situation and their Hogwarts house. They both liked the same Quidditch team, some of the same muggle bands, their favorite color was both green and they both didn't care what their families or anyone thought about them.

"You know, I never thought we'd actually end up talking like this," Dominique stated. "Since we never did at school because we never had classes or anything together. The four year age difference was too much."

Scorpius shrugged. "Some things just happen I guess. We didn't really choose for everything in our lives to go to hell."

"True," Dominique agreed, suppressing a small giggle that was caused by the fire whiskey. "It's funny really; how quickly things can change."

Scorpius glanced at her and couldn't help but get lost in her features. Her light blue eyes were protected by long, pale eyelashes. Her nose held a light trail of freckles and her long wavy, silvery-blonde hair fell halfway down her back.

He didn't know if it was because of the fire whiskey or his old crush, but he was feeling _something_ for Dominique in that moment.

"You know, I want to thank you," Dominique said, forcing Scorpius out of his thoughts.

"For what?"

Dominique pushed the empty bottles of fire whiskey out of her way and moved across the floor of the tree house until she was sitting next to Scorpius. "For letting me vent to you, for listening to me and just for being there for me."

"We were here for each other," Scorpius stated, reaching over and taking Dominique's hand in his own and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Dominique leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you," she said again. "I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't have talked to you."

In a way, she was right, because Scorpius didn't know what he would have done if it weren't for her. They were united in this, not be choice, but by a force of will.

Scorpius shifted until they were face to face and he was slowly leaning forward and pressing his lips to Dominique's. He felt her hesitate for a split second before responding eagerly. His hands wrapped around her waist on their free will and he felt her hands tangle in his hair.

After a moment, they pulled apart for much needed air. Scorpius couldn't help but laugh and Dominique giggled along with him. If someone had told him in his fifth year that he would end up kissing Dominique Weasley he would have been flabbergasted and laughed in their face.

They weren't exactly a couple, but they were two people who understood each other. They found a solace in each other that they couldn't get anywhere else.

* * *

AN: This is written for Round Three of the Quidditch Leaque, the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp: flabbergastesd, and the Pairing Set Boot Camp: Dom/Scorpius.

Prompts: Maybe, maybe not, "Forget about it," and blue.

Word Count: 1,615

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling and I don't claim to be so I don't own anything Harry Potter nor do I profit from this.


	4. Demons

Demons

_She walked to the edge of the balcony and placed her hands on the railing, letting the air blow through her hair. _

_Why did this all happen? she thought as she stared off into the night. _

_She heard footsteps in the room behind her, but she didn't bother turning around. She knew who it was but didn't care enough to want to talk to him. _

"_Narcissa," a familiar voice said, softly. _

_Narcissa didn't pull her gaze from the large garden and didn't even act as if she'd heard him. She heard footsteps as someone walked up to stand beside her and felt a hand on her shoulder. _

"_How long are you going to keep avoiding me?"_

_As long as needed, she thought but she couldn't bring herself to speak the words or to even look at him. _

"_Draco's fine," Lucius argued. "Everything's fine and there's nothing you need to worry about."_

"_Only because the Dark Lord's not around anymore to blackmail my son because of your foolishness," Narcissa stated, harshly – the venom clear in her voice. She turned around and walked back into their bedroom. _

"_There's not going to be anymore mistakes," Lucius tried. _

"_That changes nothing," Narcissa retorted, glaring at him. "Nothing you do anymore will change the fact that you're the one who caused everything and it won't change the fact that Draco doesn't want to speak to you." _

"_He'll come around…eventually, he's a confused teenager who was forced into a war that had nothing to do with him."_

"_Because he had a father who let him get forced into the middle of everything," Narcissa corrected. _

"_So you're blaming me for this?" _

_Narcissa crossed her arms and turned on her heel. "Well, I'm not the one who got sucked into the death eaters and put Draco in danger. I was just forced to go along in the hopes that I could keep him out of that life."_

_She slowly walked to the door and opened it. She motioned for Lucius to leave. "I'm sure one of the guest rooms will be fine for you tonight."_

_Lucius silently walked across the room and through the opened door. He turned around to say something but was only greeted with a door slamming in his face._

* * *

The Blonde slowly crossed the center of the bed room and walked to the balcony door. She walked past the crumbled parchment and the broken quill that lay on the floor without a second glance.

She pushed the doors opened to allow the cool night air to creep into the room; allowing her to breath. It was nice to have a moment alone to try to process her thoughts. Moments like that were few to none and she cherished them.

Not that it mattered, really. She was too upset to think straight – too much stuff had happened at once. Everything had gone to hell and she was stuck with the aftermath. She was relieved, of course, that everything was finally over. But she still couldn't shake her feelings from the war.

Everything was out of her control and she hated it. She liked being in control of her life, instead of hiding in the sidelines and letting someone else tell her what to do.

She couldn't stand the fact that the death eaters had taken over _her_ house as their headquarters and had made a giant mess of the manor, especially the room just below her.

She sighed.

She blamed herself for everything. The danger her son was in was all her fault. How could she have been so stupid to let him get involved in this? She was his mother – she should have protected him and kept him away from everything.

But nothing she did was enough.

She slowly turned around and her gaze lingered on the parchment and quill that littered the floor. She'd gotten annoyed at trying to write a letter and had balled the parchment up and broke the quill.

She was wasting her time after all; what's done was done. It was too late for her to even bother writing to her only living sister; a sister who wouldn't want anything to do with her anyway – not after everything that happened when they were teenagers.

Narcissa had sided with their family while Andromeda had decided to run away and make her own decisions.

She never admitted it to anyone but she always looked up to Andromeda, especially the day she left. Because she did something that Narcissa couldn't even dream of having the strength or the courage to do; she walked out on her family's dark ways and came out a better person.

Narcissa, on the other hand, stayed silent and just went along with what her parents said. She was too much of a coward to do anything else and was afraid of the consequences if she didn't. Instead of listening to her heart and doing what was really right, she listened to her brain and did what her family told her was right.

_Everyone has their demons._

"There are two kinds of people in the world," she said softly.

_Those who let their demons control them and those who fight against them. _

She was one of the ones who let their demons control them.

She's decided that she's not going to be that person anymore – she's not going to be controlled. The argument she'd had with Lucius just a few moments ago proved that.

Narcissa didn't know what had come over her, but she had just been so annoyed and angry that everything just came out in that moment. A part of her felt that Lucius just didn't care about their son's safety as much as she had. And he had only proven that through his actions throughout the war.

Narcissa closed the balcony doors and slowly turned around. She couldn't help but stare at the rumbled parchment again.

Making up her mind, she crossed the floor, picked up the parchment and quill and threw them in the trash. She walked over to the small desk on the other side of the room and starting writing a short letter to her sister for the second time.

Even if it was pointless, Narcissa still had to try. She was one of Andromeda's only living relatives left.

She folded the letter and placed it in an envelope before tying it to her owl's leg and sending it off into the night.

Everyone has their demons and she wasn't going to let hers control her anymore.

* * *

AN: So I'm really not too sure how I feel about this...Leave a review and tell me what you thought maybe? So in my head canon, Narcissa and Andromeda do make up after the war ends and the decide to be civil with one other. And also, in my head canon, I see Narcissa as being pretty ticked at Lucius after the war and I can see Draco as not wanting much to do with him either. But I have nothing against the pairing itself - it's just what I see happening after all is said and done.

This was written for the Pairing Set Boot Camp: Lucius/Narcissa.

The Pairing Diversity Boot Camp: Retrospectively.

The House Cup Competition. Pairing: LuciusNarcissa. Quote: "Monsters are real and ghosts are real too. They live inside us and sometimes they win." – Stephen King. Dialogue: "That changes nothing," Object: Broken Quill and Emotion: relieved.

Also written for round four of the Quidditch League Competition. My prompts were: Malfoy Manor (setting), danger, stupid and below.

Word count: 1,086


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